Analysis of The Mystic Sea
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
The smell of the sea in my nostrils,
The sound of the sea in mine ears;
The touch of the spray on my burning face,
Like the mist of reluctant tears.
The blue of the sky above me,
The green of the waves beneath;
The sun flashing down on a gray-white sail
Like a scimitar from its sheath.
And ever the breaking billows,
And ever the rocks' disdain;
And ever a thrill in mine inmost heart
That my reason cannot explain.
So I say to my heart, 'Be silent,
The mystery of time is here;
Death's way will be plain when we fathom the main,
And the secret of life be clear.'
Scheme | XXXX XAXA XBXB XXBX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (50%) |
Metre | 011010110 01101011 0110111101 10110101 01101011 0110101 0110110111 101111 01001010 0100101 010010111 11101001 111111110 01001111 11111111001 00101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 557 |
Words | 115 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 108 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 105 Views
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